


Excited Show Title!

by Bearixt



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Just the existence of shows and characters and man this is hard to explain, Katsuki Yuuri-centric, M/M, Medium awareness, Metafiction, Pre-Canon, Why is Medium Awareness not an actual tag yet?, Yuuri does NOT know Yuri on Ice tho, kind of canon compliant but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22051231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bearixt/pseuds/Bearixt
Summary: The young man wins gold, and Yuuko spins around, holding up her pointer finger. “Russia’s Viktor Nikiforov!” she exclaims. “He won the gold in the Junior Worlds with the highest score in history! Isn’t he so cool?”“Yeah,” Yuuri breathes out, eyes still wide and glued to the TV screen. “He’s a main character.”Yuuko and Takeshi look at him in confusion. Yuuri, still giddy about the breath-taking man he just watched, hurriedly explains, “He has long hair! And it’s silver! And—oh, are his eyes blue?!”-A glimpse into a canon AU where everything is almost the same, except Yuuri has Medium Awareness.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 40
Kudos: 147





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thank you, [Stelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroainii) and [Lu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetitLu), for the ~~screaming~~ support in Discord and irl. And to my favorite and the most wonderful [ Cookie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleDancer8) in the entire world, thank you so much for the beta. <3
> 
> It's 2020 in, like, twenty minutes for me. Starting the new year with a fic... I hope this means I'll be able to write more...? Ha, ha. Happy new year! ก็็็็็็็็็็็็็ʕ•͡ᴥ•ʔ ก้้้้้้้้้้้

Yuuri is three years old when he has a sudden realization.

He stops playing with his toys. He looks up and asks, “Mom, why is my hair not gold?”

His mother looks surprised, but she recovers promptly. She smiles and hugs him tightly before raising him in the air. “Oh my,” she beams. “Our Yuuri just said his first complete sentence! Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yeah,” his father agrees, placing a hand on her shoulder, also with a small smile on his face.

They proceed to coo at him, but Yuuri just focuses on his parents’ hair. It’s dark. It’s… it’s brown.

His mother brings him down, and Yuuri walks, tripping once in a while, to the full-length body mirror on the other side of the room. He stares.

Black hair. Brown eyes. No scars. No permanent band-aid on his nose or cheeks. He concentrates, trying to draw out his aura or something, but nothing changes. He doesn’t suddenly combust, either.

Yuuri reaches out to his reflection, barely registering the new set of coos and the sound of camera shutters.

He is not a main character.

* * *

Yuuri is four when his parents make him attend classes studying under Minako.

He does not understand it, really, because why should he learn ballet? Ballet is not a popular focus in stories, so while Minako is an amazing teacher (and Ballet _is_ fun and amazing to learn), Yuuri knows that her achievements will just be quickly mentioned in the show she’s in, if they will even be mentioned at all. The camera will probably just pass by her trophies and let the audience figure it out for themselves.

Yuuri likes her, but she also doesn’t look like a main character. The single mole under her left eye made Yuuri doubt at first, because things like that usually meant something, but it turns out to be nothing important. It doesn’t make her transform into a magical girl.

_(“Magical girl? What—hahaha! You know, I used to watch a lot when I was younger, but there just wasn’t time to keep up with those shows while I was traveling for dance. Do you want to watch something while you rest, Yuuri? But that doesn’t mean you can slack off!”)_

Ballet can be a plot device or something that an important character has in their arsenal and will be revealed later on just because _they can_ , but that’s exactly the point. Yuuri’s not an important character.

So he does not understand.

Still, he does his best. Main character or not, Yuuri is still the son of his parents. He will make them proud.

Later, Minako encourages him to go into figure skating. Again, he does not understand why she is wasting time and energy on teaching him, but he may as well do things he enjoys, so why not? It’s not like knowledge in ballet or skating will make any difference in his life.

* * *

Yuuri is five when he meets Yuuko and Takeshi during his first skating lesson. They are nice. They are also not main characters, so it was easy for Yuuri to be at ease with them. Camaraderie and all that.

_(“Main character? What are you talking about? Ah, Yuuri, I told you, don’t make your strides too big! Are you okay? Takeshi, stop laughing and help him up!”)_

* * *

Yuuri is seven when he enters his first grade classroom and sees that some of his classmates are main characters.

One of them has dusty-brown hair, though sometimes it appears to be silver, and eyes that are sometimes golden-brown and then sometimes green with slit irises. _Slit irises._ He is definitely an important character. If the inconsistent colors and cat-like features aren’t enough to convince Yuuri, the fact that he keeps on looking around him like he is seeing something that others can’t makes him believe that he is a main character, perhaps in a supernatural show.

One day, the kid drops on the floor all of a sudden. Yuuri is assigned to bring him to the nurse’s office. That is the last time Yuuri sees him because he drops out of school all of a sudden, too.

Yuuri overhears the adults talk about how the “weird kid was passed around by his relatives,” and he can’t help but frown. Main characters really have it hard, don’t they?

* * *

Yuuri is ten when his sister, Mari, bleaches her hair.

She is also another side character, which is not really surprising since Yuuri has started to accept that they are just background family number thirty-five. Still, it gives Yuuri hope. He wonders why he didn’t think of it earlier. If it is all about appearance, then they could just alter how they look.

Mari pierces her ears once, twice, thrice, until she has two cartilage rings and three studs in each ear. Yuuri stares at her in awe. Apparently, his sister is quite a troublemaker in high school, and he can’t stop the grin forming on his face as he realizes that their family might actually have an important character. Maybe Mari’s not a main character, but she can be a side character, or better, an antagonist.

However, the condition of their family inn is getting worse, and Mari skips college to help out full time. Yuuri still continues to stare at Mari in awe, because she is amazing. How could Yuuri even think that she will be an antagonist?

_(In the end, they are still just background family number thirty-five.)_

* * *

Yuuri is twelve when Yuuko makes them watch the Junior World Championships in Bulgaria. 

Yuuri and Takeshi sit on a blue bench while Yuuko stands as she watches the screen in anticipation. Yuuri wonders why Yuuko is so intent on making them watch it. 

A young man with long silver hair appears on the TV, making Yuuri gasp.

The young man wins gold, and Yuuko spins around, holding up her pointer finger. “Russia’s Viktor Nikiforov!” she exclaims. “He won the gold in the Junior Worlds with the highest score in history! Isn’t he so cool?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri breathes out, eyes still wide and glued to the TV screen. “He’s a main character.”

Yuuko and Takeshi look at him in confusion. Yuuri, still giddy about the breath-taking man he just watched, hurriedly explains, “He has long hair! And it’s silver! And—oh, are his eyes blue?!”

It’s how his ~~obsession with~~ interest in the best skater in history (everyone can fight him on this) starts.

* * *

Yuuri is nineteen, a first year college student, when he meets Phichit Chulanont. Yuuri is surprised that they become friends. What is an obviously-supporting-character doing, talking with an obviously-nameless-background-character?

 _Maybe_ , Yuuri thinks, a dangerous emotion blossoming on his chest, _I can be a supporting character when he gets his own spin-off._

  
  


_(Later on, Yuuri tells him his situation, and it goes like this:_

_“Yuuri, what? That’s impossible.”_

_“You don’t really have to believe me. I know it sounds stupid. But I just wanted to tell you that.”_

_“No, no, I believe you! I mean, you, a background character? That’s impossible!”_

_“Phichit.”_

_“What?”_

_“Thank you for being a good friend.”_

_“Well—um, no problem? You—you’re a good friend, too! You’re so kind and, wait, don’t change the topic, Yuuri! Where are you going? C’mon, I still need to tell you why you are definitely a main character!”)_

* * *

Yuuri is twenty-three when he realizes that it is actually possible. He might not actually be nameless background character number seventy-two.

He might actually be a supporting character for a sports anime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what am i doing


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments! I'm happy that you guys liked the first part even though no one, not even me, really knows what is happening here. There are wonderful ideas thrown in the comments, too! As much as I love to include some of them, I don't really trust myself to write a more "complete" fic, if that makes sense? It's why this fic is just a "glimpse" into a canon AU. ~~A spin-off that focuses on Yuri will be nice though...~~
> 
> This chapter would've been sooo messy if it wasn't betaed by [Cookie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleDancer8). I'm very blessed. Thank you for catching all those continuity errors! <3
> 
> Seriously. There's a reason why I don't like writing canon. All these events and timelines! But here I am anyway. _laugh-cry intensifies_

“Yuri.”

Yuuri looks up when he hears his name and sees Viktor Nikiforov walking with Yuri Plisetsky—the angry teenager from earlier—and their coach.

 _Ah. The Yuri on the Russian team._ Not him. Of course. 

(He just had his Bathroom Stall of Angst, so forgive him for not being completely with it.)

The three of them walk by him, and Yuuri stares at Viktor’s back. _If I do have a chance_ , Yuuri thinks, _I’d like to talk to a main character someday._

As if sensing his thoughts, Viktor glances back and stares at Yuuri. Yuuri gasps. Did… did Viktor see him? Will a beautiful soundtrack start playing any moment now, and maybe, just maybe, Yuuri is actually a kinda-important character?

Viktor smiles at him.

_Maybe I can be a supporting character for someone as amazing as Viktor?_

Viktor opens his mouth. “A commemorative photo? Sure.”

Yuuri blinks, turns around, and walks away.

Commemorative photo. _Commemorative photo._ Viktor doesn’t even know him as a _skater_.

Another line from earlier rings in his head: _We don’t need two Yuri’s in the same bracket._ Yuri Plisetsky is definitely a main character, too. 

Yuuri has heard about males with feminine names (who he believes are the main characters in a show focused on swimming) and others that have colors as part of their names (if he remembers correctly, they play basketball), but what are the chances of a main character sharing the same name with another important character?

Nada.

Yuuri’s not an important character. No, he is probably just one of those poorly-drawn, black and white background characters that nobody pays attention to. It’s why he has the name Yuuri.

Of course.

* * *

It is April 2014 when Viktor suddenly arrives in Japan. Obviously, Yuuri panics. Not just because his idol is breathing the same air as him, but also because why isn’t he wearing anything?!

 _I-Is Viktor actually in an R18 show?! Am I going to be a character in an R18 show?!_ Yuuri inwardly screams.

Viktor stands up and Yuuri can already see the headlines. 

_(“Japanese skater dies, Russia’s Nikiforov allegedly the cause”)_

Oh wait, the fog… Well, that’s a well-placed censorship. Yuuri is relieved, and then disappointed, and then horrified at his disappointment. He doesn’t have time to dwell on it though, because he unexpectedly has his Big “WHAT?!” moment.

 _The_ Viktor Nikiforov wants to be his coach.

Yuuri stares at him. Hidden Eyes? Check. Peek-A-Bangs? Check. Cheshire Cat Grin? Check. Dissonant Serenity because he just _flew all the way from Russia_? Yes.

He’s 100% a suspicious person, but does Yuuri care about that? Definitely not.

* * *

Yuuri suddenly has to compete against Yuri in the Hot Springs on Ice Skate-off.

Yuuri actually wins.

Maybe… maybe he’s nameless competitor #83 that the teenager has to overcome. Yuuri might actually be in a flashback episode of a main character like Yuri. Oh, _wow._ That’s totally an improvement from being a black-and-white background character.

Unless they blur out his face. Or simply mention him. That is actually possible, isn’t it? There are a lot of skaters, so at some point, one of them must simply be mentioned in someone’s show but not explicitly shown.

Who was it that surpassed him and Michele in Russia (where Yuuri messed up everything) again?

* * *

Viktor makes him name the piece for his free skate. Yuuri thinks “Yuuri on Ice” is appropriate. 

Yuuri snorts a second later.

“Hmm? I think it’s a good title,” Viktor says.

“It sounds like the title of a show where I’m the main character,” Yuuri replies. Ridiculous. But at this point, he realizes that he has too much screen time with Viktor to not be at least a supporting character. He feels a little giddy.

* * *

Japan’s Southern Regional Championships happen in October 2014. There, he meets Kenjirou Minami, who Yuuri is surprised to see.

Why is he still skating and not fighting various monsters of the week?

Then, Yuuri scores a personal best in his short program. Holy shit. He’s extremely happy that he almost forgets he’s annoyed again at seeing the “Yuri Katsuki” on screen, because, _come on._

* * *

That same month, Yuuri watches the Skate America and Skate Canada Grand Prix Qualifiers. In Skate America, Guang Hong Ji has his senior debut and lands in third place. Leo de la Iglesia bags first place. Second place, Otabek Altin, looks like a love interest. Yuuri wonders who it will be. What plot twist will he bring?

In Skate Canada, Jean-Jacques Leroy wins first place like the obviously main character he is. The Russian Yuri debuts, too, and wins second. 

_(Yuuri hears him talk during an interview and realizes that Yuri, as long as he’s not shouting, actually has quite a smooth voice. In an alternate universe, perhaps he could be a cunning protagonist. Or an antagonist. Or maybe he can still be in another sports-focused show and is tall. He will most likely continue to antagonize other people, though._

_Well, this Yuri will probably be tall after he hit his growth spurt anyway.)_

Emil, who Yuuri thought was/is/will be a side character for a cooking show, comes in third place.

Yuuri is happy for all his friends, no matter if they are also supporting characters or the main characters.

* * *

At the Cup of China the next month, Phichit performs his “Shall We Skate” SP routine and wins his first gold. His spin-off show is definitely the best that anyone can ever ask for. Yuuri feels blessed to be part of it.

Third place Chris… is in a _harem_ show, for sure. Or an R-18 one. Yuuri does not know exactly what to feel, knowing that he is somehow a part of it.

_(Yuuri is still not completely sure of the kind of show Viktor is in, but since he and Chris are friends…)_

Yuuri himself is in second place. Not bad, definitely, and he even scores his new personal best in the Short Program—but that’s not really the highlight of this episode.

Viktor kisses him. In the rink. He has his arms around Yuuri’s shoulder, so Yuuri thinks that some people will speculate whether it’s actually a kiss or a hug, but _he_ feels the lips on his own, so it’s definitely a goddamn kiss.

It is The Big Damn Kiss.

Wait.

Is this the First Kiss that actually puts an end to the obviously-there-since-the-Big “WHAT?!”-moment Unresolved Sexual Tension?

Is his question about the kind of show Viktor is in answered?

_Am I going into BL territory?!_

* * *

A few days later, Yuuri has another new personal best in his Short Program at the Rostelecom Cup. It all feels surreal.

Moments later, Makka chokes on buns _because_ there needs to be a conflict after all the happiness. But dogs are not allowed to die twice in a show, especially in a show that’s supposed to be feel good like this. Yuuri might not be completely sure about the genres, but he knows that it does not have the dreadful feeling of a psychological thriller or something. Yuuri’s confident that Makka will be fine.

…

Okay, maybe not really. Yuuri has heard of a magical girl show that turned out to be super dark.

Please, ~~Mitsuro Kubo,~~ don’t kill a dog off in a sports show for the second time.

_(Yuuri ends up in 4th place after his Free Skate, but can you blame him? It's_ Makka _. Fortunately, he still qualifies—even just barely—for the Grand Prix Final. Phew.)_

* * *

This is probably out of nowhere, but Yuuri just has a thought. NHK Trophy’s second place, Seung Gil Lee, most likely has a main show that is already finished, and his skating career is the post-canon that viewers will never get to see unless the writer decides to continue, which is unlikely because the studio has new projects to work on. His show is probably set during middle school. Or high school.

Just a random thought.

* * *

It is December 2014, and Yuuri gets engaged in Barcelona. He is _so_ confused about the genre. Sports? Slice of life? BL? Will the rating go up?

But holy shit. He’s engaged, not just to anyone, but to _Viktor Nikiforov._ He’s an Ascended Fanboy. God bless.

* * *

(He’s not going to talk about the biggest damn plot twist of his life. He’s _not_. No, thank you. What's a banquet?)

* * *

Yuri wins gold at his senior debut Grand Prix Final. Main character indeed. Yuuri feels so proud.

* * *

(He will also not talk about the mess that Viktor and he make, with all the retiring and competing and _not_ retiring and coaching _and competing and coaching_. He doesn’t even know how to start, so, nope.)

* * *

Yuuri runs on the Tuchkov Bridge, clad in a thick jacket, with Makka running along with him. He sees Viktor and Yuri waiting for him, and he smiles, barely noticing the tiny clouds leaving his mouth as he breathes.

Viktor turns and looks at him with those eyes, with so much love, and Yuuri feels his heart squeezing in his chest. The Russian man's ears are red, and yet, he smiles and waves his hand at Yuuri.

God, Yuuri loves him so much.

“Yuuri!”

* * *

Yuuri’s world turns black for a second.

_See You NEXT LEVEL_

Yuuri blinks.

_Oh._

* * *

Yuuri approaches the two, and when they ask why he is laughing so much, Yuuri just grins in reply.

Yuuri is twenty-four when he realizes that he has been the main character of his own show (with an Excited Show Title!) all this time. Yuuri can’t believe he needed the ending card to figure it out.

And thus, the first season of ユーリ!!! on ICE ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is where this fic ends. How many references did you catch?
> 
> Kudos and comments—short or long, coherent or incoherent, actual words or keyboard smashes—are much appreciated! I'm also on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/rinkaisha_).
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope I made you guys smile even just a little! ʕ≧ᴥ≦ʔ


End file.
